Act I scene 3 - The Lists at Coventry
Enter the Lord Marshal and the DUKE OF AUMERLE
The trumpets sound, and KING RICHARD enters with his nobles, JOHN OF GAUNT, BUSHY, BAGOT, GREEN, and others. When they are set, enter THOMAS MOWBRAY in arms, defendant, with a Herald
KING RICHARD II
Marshal, demand of yonder Champion
The cause of his arrival here in Arms:
Ask him his name, and orderly proceed
To swear him in the justice of his cause.
Lord Marshal
In God's name, and the King's, say who thou art, 5
And why thou comest thus knightly clad in Arms?
Against what man thou comest, and what thy quarrel:
Speak truly on thy knighthood, and thy oath,
As so defend thee heaven, and thy valour.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
My name is Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, 10
Who hither come engaged by my oath
Both to defend my loyalty and truth,
To God, my King and his succeeding issue,
Against the Duke of Hereford that appeals me:
And by the grace of God and this mine arm, 15
To prove him, in defending of myself,
A Traitor to my God, my King, and me,
And as I truly fight, defend me heaven.
The trumpets sound.
Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE, appellant, in armour, with a Herald
KING RICHARD II
Marshal: ask yonder Knight in Arms,
Both who he is, and why he cometh hither, 20
Thus plated in habiliments of war:
And formally according to our Law,
Depose him in the justice of his cause.
Lord Marshal
What is thy name? and wherefore comest thou hither,
Before King Richard in his Royal Lists? 25
Against whom comest thou? and what's thy quarrel?
Speak like a true Knight, so defend thee heaven.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby
Am I: who ready here do stand in Arms,
To prove by God's grace and my body's valor, 30
In Lists, on Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk,
That he’s a Traitor foul, and dangerous,
To God of heaven, King Richard, and to me,
And as I truly fight, defend me heaven.
Lord Marshal
On pain of death, no person be so bold 35
Or daring-hardy as to touch the Lists,
Except the Marshal and such Officers
Appointed to direct these fair designs.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Lord Marshal, let me kiss my Sovereign's hand,
And bow my knee before his Majesty. 40
Lord Marshal
The Appellant in all duty greets your Highness,
And craves to kiss your hand and take his leave.
KING RICHARD II
We will descend, and fold him in our arms.
Cousin of Hereford, as thy cause is right,
So be thy fortune in this Royal fight: 45
Farewell, my blood, which if today thou shed,
Lament we may, but not revenge the dead.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
O let no noble eye profane a tear
For me, if I be gored with Mowbray's spear:
As confident as is the Falcon's flight 50
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight.
My loving Lord, I take my leave of you,
Of you, my Noble Cousin, Lord Aumerle.
O thou, the earthly author of my blood,
Whose youthful spirit in me regenerate, 55
Doth with a twofold vigor lift me up
To reach at victory above my head,
Add proof unto mine Armor with thy prayers,
And with thy blessings steel my Lance's point,
That it may enter Mowbray's waxen Coat, 60
And furnish new the name of John a Gaunt,
Even in the lusty havior of his son.
JOHN OF GAUNT
God in thy good cause make thee prosperous.
Be swift like lightning in the execution.
Rouse up thy youthful blood, be valiant, and live. 65
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Mine innocence and Saint George to thrive.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
However God or fortune cast my lot,
There lives, or dies, true to King Richard's Throne,
A loyal, just, and upright Gentleman.
Most mighty Liege, and my companion Peers, 70
Take from my mouth the wish of happy years;
As gentle, and as jocund, as to jest
Go I to fight: Truth, hath a quiet breast.
KING RICHARD II
Farewell, my Lord, securely I espy
Virtue with Valor couched in thine eye: 75
Order the trial Marshal, and begin.
Lord Marshal
Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby,
Receive thy Lance, and God defend thy right.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Strong as a tower in hope, I cry Amen.
Lord Marshal
Go bear this Lance to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk.
First Herald
Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 80
Stands here for God, his Sovereign, and himself,
On pain to be found false, and recreant,
To prove the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray,
A Traitor to his God, his King, and him;
And dares him to set forwards to the fight. 85
Second Herald
Here standeth Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
On pain to be found false and recreant,
Both to defend himself, and to approve
Henry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby,
To God, his Sovereign, and to him disloyal: 90
Courageously, and with a free desire
Attending but the signal to begin.
Lord Marshal
Sound Trumpets, and set forward Combatants:
A charge sounded
Stay, the King hath thrown his Warder down.
KING RICHARD II
Let them lay by their Helmets and their Spears, 95
And both return back to their Chairs again:
Withdraw with us, and let the Trumpets sound
While we return these Dukes what we decree.
A long flourish
Draw near,
And list what with our Council we have done.
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 100
With that dear blood which it hath fostered,
And for our eyes do hate the dire aspect
Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' swords,
Which might from quiet Confines fright fair peace,
And make us wade even in our kindred’s blood: 105
Therefore, we banish you our territories.
You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of death,
Till twice five Summers have enrich'd our fields,
Shall not regreet our fair dominions,
But tread the stranger paths of banishment. 110
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Your will be done: This must my comfort be,
That Sun that warms you here shall shine on me:
And those his golden beams to you here lent
Shall point on me, and gild my banishment.
KING RICHARD II
Norfolk: for thee remains a heavier doom, 115
Which I with some unwillingness pronounce:
The sly slow hours shall not determinate
The dateless limit of thy dear exile:
The hopeless word of 'Never to return'
Breathe I against thee, upon pain of life. 120
THOMAS MOWBRAY
A heavy sentence, my most Sovereign Liege,
And all unlook'd for from your Highness' mouth:
A dearer merit, not so deep a maim,
As to be cast forth in the common air
Have I deserved at your Highness' hands. 125
The Language I have learn'd these forty years,
My native English, now I must forego,
And now my tongue's use is to me no more
Than an unstringed Viol or a Harp.
Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, 130
And dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance,
Is made my Gaoler to attend on me:
I am too old to fawn upon a Nurse,
Too far in years to be a pupil now:
What is thy sentence then but speechless death, 135
Which robs my tongue from breathing native breath?
KING RICHARD II
It boots thee not to be compassionate:
After our sentence, plaining comes too late.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Then thus I turn me from my country's light,
To dwell in solemn shades of endless night. 140
KING RICHARD II
Return again, and take an oath with thee,
Lay on our Royal sword your banish'd hands;
Swear by the duty that you owe to God
(Our part therein we banish with yourselves)
To keep the Oath that we administer: 145
You never shall, so help you Truth and God,
Embrace each other's love in banishment,
Nor ever look upon each other's face;
Nor ever write, regreet, or reconcile
This louring tempest of your home-bred hate, 150
Nor ever by advised purpose meet
To plot, contrive, or complot any ill
'Gainst Us, our State, our Subjects, or our Land.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
I swear.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
And I, to keep all this.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Norfolk, so far as to mine enemy, 155
By this time, had the King permitted us,
One of our souls had wandered in the air.
Confess thy treasons ere thou fly this Realm,
Since thou hast far to go, bear not along
The clogging burthen of a guilty soul. 160
THOMAS MOWBRAY
No Bolingbroke: if ever I were Traitor,
My name be blotted from the book of Life,
And I from heaven banish'd as from hence:
But what thou art, heaven, thou, and I do know;
And all too soon, I fear, the King shall rue. 165
Farewell, my Liege, now no way can I stray,
Save back to England, all the world's my way.
Exit
KING RICHARD II
Uncle, even in the glasses of thine eyes
I see thy grieved heart: thy sad aspect
Hath from the number of his banish'd years 170
Pluck'd four away: Six frozen winter spent,
Return with welcome home from banishment.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
How long a time lies in one little word.
Four lagging Winters, and four wanton springs
End in a word: such is the breath of kings. 175
JOHN OF GAUNT
I thank my Liege, that in regard of me
He shortens four years of my son's exile:
But little vantage shall I reap thereby.
For ere the six years that he hath to spend
Can change their Moons, and bring their times about, 180
My inch of Taper will be burnt and done,
And blindfold death not let me see my son.
KING RICHARD II
Why Uncle, thou hast many years to live.
JOHN OF GAUNT
But not a minute, King, that thou canst give;
Shorten my days thou canst with sudden sorrow, 185
And pluck nights from me, but not lend a morrow:
Thy word is current with him for my death,
But dead, thy kingdom cannot buy my breath.
KING RICHARD II
Thy son is banish'd upon good advice,
Whereto thy tongue a party-verdict gave: 190
Why at our justice seem'st thou then to lour?
JOHN OF GAUNT
Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour:
You urged me as a Judge, but I had rather
You would have bid me argue like a Father.
But you gave leave to my unwilling tongue, 195
Against my will, to do myself this wrong.
KING RICHARD II
Cousin farewell; and Uncle bid him so:
Six years we banish him, and he shall go.
Flourish. Exeunt KING RICHARD II and train
DUKE OF AUMERLE
Cousin farewell: what presence must not know
From where you do remain, let paper show. 200
Lord Marshal
My Lord, no leave take I, for I will ride
As far as land will let me, by your side.
JOHN OF GAUNT
Oh to what purpose dost thou hoard thy words,
That thou return'st no greeting to thy friends?
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
I have too few to take my leave of you. 205
JOHN OF GAUNT
Thy grief is but thy absence for a time.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Joy absent, grief is present for that time.
JOHN OF GAUNT
What is six Winters? they are quickly gone.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
To men in joy, but grief makes one hour ten.
JOHN OF GAUNT
Call it a travel that thou takest for pleasure. 210
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
My heart will sigh when I miscall it so,
Which finds it an enforced Pilgrimage.
JOHN OF GAUNT
All places that the eye of heaven visits
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens.
Teach thy necessity to reason thus: 215
There is no virtue like necessity.
Think not the King did banish thee,
But thou the King. Woe doth the heavier sit
Where it perceives it is but faintly borne.
For gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite 220
The man that mocks at it and sets it light.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Oh who can hold a fire in his hand
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite
By bare imagination of a feast? 225
Oh no, the apprehension of the good
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse:
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore.
JOHN OF GAUNT
Come, come, my son, I'll bring thee on thy way: 230
Had I thy youth and cause, I would not stay.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Then England's ground, farewell: sweet soil, adieu:
Where'er I wander, boast of this I can,
Though banish'd, yet a trueborn Englishman.
Exeunt
Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" conveys the sense of driving uncertainty that launches us into 1.3, the scene wherein the conflict gets more complicated. By the end of this scene, we'll be on the path that will lead to Richard's downfall. Perhaps there was hope, had he acted differently here.
The choreography was inspired by the flocking of birds - majestic in a sense, but also unified and formal. They operate as a single mind, creating the pageantry of Richard's public sphere. Yet underneath the unified appearance is a need to break free, to be individuals.
Richard entered with his entourage (the Queen, her ladies, and the boys) from the tall platform SR, descending to the throne on the middle platform. Mowbray entered with his herald from underneath the tall platform. The Lord Marshall, as Richard's public voice through the beginning of the scene, stood CS, in front of the throne on the main deck.
York, Aumerle, and Northumberland watched from the main deck SL while Ross, Fitzwater, & Berkeley mirrored them SR. As the action unfolded, these lords and ladies observed, but also participated by live-tweeting the duel. Berkeley was the only one who decided she was on Mowbray's side; everyone else supported Bolingbroke.
Bolingbroke entered with father, Gaunt, and herald over the SL low platform.
Everything leading up to the fight is marked by an extreme formality. Feelings are pushed back as everyone plays the game of Richard's public spectacle.
It always strikes me here that Bolingbroke goes out of his way to remind us of his support system and family ties. He requests to approach Richard, then takes his leave of his entire family, ending with his father (who has a claim to the throne).
Mowbray, by contrast, has no one on his side. He makes no such public display, and must trust that his honesty will stand for itself.
Imagine the contestants on Rupaul's Drag Race trash-talking each other before a challenge. That was the vibe I was going for with the Heralds.
The first one, played by first-year Jaylin Williams, had an epic side-eye, followed by the most attitude in a head toss ever ranked in Shakespeare. The second one, played by Tyler Castanuela, responded with an understated, straightforward announcement, ending with a double middle finger. So much shade was thrown.
Though Shakespeare cuts off the fight before it can actually happen, I chose to let them fight a little bit. I had a phenomenal resource in Fight Director D.C. Wright; many of our students learn stage combat while here, and we are one of only 3 programs in the country that offers a stage combat minor. Matt
Bender, who plays Mowbray, had served as my fight choreographer on a previous show as well. If you can't put a sword fight in Shakespeare, then what has it all been for??
I wanted to play with the idea that Richard only intervenes when it looks like things won't go his way. From history and the play, it appears that Mowbray may know something about Gloucester's mysterious death in Calais and Richard's hand in it. Richard can't allow Mowbray to win. He doesn't want Bolingbroke to win either, because (let's be honest) that guy's just a pain in his ass. So in our version, he allows the fight to happen, but then uses the situation to his advantage.
Mowbray disarmed Bolingbroke in the second pass; they both looked to Richard, assuming this determined the outcome, but Richard indicated for them to continue. Their urgency immediately elevated as it became clear that this was suddenly a battle to the death. As the fighting got more harried and more dangerous, Mowbray was finally on the point of striking the final blow when Richard intervened.
By that point, he has realized how he can play this situation to his advantage, getting rid of them both and retaining his power and facade.
Bolingbroke's line has an immediate, visceral, almost tangible meaning while we live under stay-at-home orders with unknown end dates.
Bolingbroke's reaction here was hard for us to parse. Is he furious? Grieving? Lashing out, or utterly calm? Does he put up a brave face for Dad? In the end, we worked towards an overwhelming grief, the type of reaction one has to news so big, so all-encompassing, that you can't quite feel it all at once. Neither knows for certain it's the last time father and son will meet, but their parting is overshadowed by the possibility.
Sam Smith's "Pray" encapsulates the emotion of this farewell; it provides a stark contrast to the energy of the next scene. The distinction between Henry's overwhelming emotion and Richard's public games is stark and palpable.
Lighting Designer Josh Wroblewski films scene 1.3 starting at line 98. Mowbray and Bolingbroke stand squared off, facing each other, with Richard II in the background standing in front of the throne.
Mowbray and Bolingbroke are about to kneel as Richard descends from the throne
Bolingbroke and Mowbray stand squared off with Richard on the throne in the background.
Lighting Designer Josh Wroblewski films scene 1.3 starting at line 98. Mowbray and Bolingbroke stand squared off, facing each other, with Richard II in the background standing in front of the throne.
Kelly Brown as Lord Marshall performs a selection of the choreography in isolation. These video transitions were inspired by TikTok as we adapted our approach to the show.